Originally posted by 38181
By the way, what kind of camera did the dude have? Was it an everyday digital type or was it big and black like a professional would use? What did the dude look like, scuzzy, dressed in a suit, in vacation type cloths, how old did the dude look like? What was the condition of his car, if you saw his plates was it of your state?

No idea what kind of camera it was or what state his plates were. This thing happened so fast I never really had a chance to get a good look. He was older because he had white/gray hair and he was wearing a white collared shirt, didnt look scuzzy from what I could see it looked like some typical older guy you would see anywhere.

I've had a similar experience, not a good one either. My boyfriend (now husband) who had a verrrry long divorce, several years, lots of fighting over assets, well, his soon to be ex-wife had photos of my car and plate number and was claiming it as part of their divorce even though I had paid for it. The law firm representing her had hired someone to go by My house and take photos of My car. In your case it might be related to a judgement against you? Are you in the process of filing bankruptcy or have you gotten behind in your taxes?

something not quite as odd happened to me the other day.

this sherrif cop car, of my city department, was just sitting there on my road, which is in one of the nicer neighborhoods of the city, the houses in my immediate surrounding are around $200k-$300k, but the ones 1/2 a mile down the road are also million dollar houses. We live in the 'cheap' part of the nicest neighborhood, lol.

So RIGHT as i pull onto my street I see him, hes parked on the opposite side of the road than my house, parallel to my neighbor's house to my right, but across the road. He was in a position to spy on my house, or my neighbors. At the end of May I had an incident at my house where the local gang unit, which happened to be the closest police officers to take the call, came to my upscale neighborhood and house, in the evening when everyone was out and about to see it, wearing their bulletproof vests on the outside of their clothes; real serious looking types.. the kind youd expect to roll up on a house full of possibly armed criminals. Theres not a single weapon in my house. My dumb sister had a friend over who had ran away from a court ordered rehab, and I had no idea, and they were informed she was at my residence for that small span of time, maybe 2 hours. So they had just come to get her, I didnt know about all this until after they took her away.

But they were complete assholes, violated my rights and insulted me quite badly. My Step-father was out of town so they knew it was free-reign for them to screw with me. 6 of the 8 cops never stepped foot in the house or talked to my Mother or even searched for the girl, they kept me isolated on my driveway for the entire time, for no reason at all! Surrounding me talking smack to me. Making light that 3 or 4 families were standing outside with binoculaurs watching this entire incident, watching me look like a terror suspect or something. I was being totally nice and had just had a nice pleasent conversation with the 1st cop to arrive, volunteering all the information I possibly could, including that I was a resident, my dad wasn't home (im 25: making me man of the house for the time he was gone), told him where he worked, what he did, what I did, which room was mine(pointed it out for him), that there were no weapons on the property and that I owned no weapons nor had any on me, so that not to worry about the girl (by now she ran and hid herself inside my 2 story home in my neice's room under her bed, sheesh) getting ahold of any weapons.

They still searched me and made me sit on my driveway while the 5 or 6 cops surrounded me and made me sit, wouldnt let me help my Mother find the girl, and took turns making fun of me and insulting me. Made threats too.. that their motion-sensing K9 was going to kill my cat and that if they found anything on me I was going to be riding in the trunk so the officer wouldnt catch fleas from me. They also said "hey check the freezer too for body parts, this guy might be on some Jeffrey Dahmer $%^&", and they werent even at my house because of me, I had nothing to do with the situation. I felt like they took me hostage until they found the girl, and if they didnt find her, they would've came up with a reason to take me instead.

No I didnt just let the fools in. I was on my fenced in back porch with my sister and her friend talking when the 1st officer walks up alongside my 5-foot wooden fence, on the neighbor's side where there was no gate to stop him. Once he walks alongside the house, the girl bolts into the back door, which was when all the fun began.

Anyway, hadn't had any problems with teh cops since then, but when I saw this guy I was like WTF .. why is he staked out across the street from my house, is he waiting for me to pull in? I thought .. to try to get me? Was he just srving a subpoena to someone nearby? I thought that too. But the *instant* i turn into my road, his brake lights comes up and he drives off right as im pulling into my driveway, he pulled off quick too. I pulled in turned around and he was nowhere to be found.

It's a shame we have to live in such paranoia .. and we aren't even criminals, we aren't even doing illegal stuff. It is ridiculous.

[edit on 7/19/2008 by runetang]

If people are watching everything you say and do on the internet why would they need a picture of your house?

I just read the op's post and made me remember something that happened to me.

I was in a book/video/music store.. gosh its been over a year or so but I never forgot it really. Anyways like any other time I go there I would just browsing up and down looking for the cheapest video I could find that I liked.

So there's no one in the section that I'm in and I see this tall guy go by I didn't think anything of it just a man. As I continued to browse the man was there again sept this time he had a camera which I didn’t notice at first, only when he brought it up to his face. I thought nothing of it again then I seen a flash and I knew this guy just took a picture of me.. I was the only one in the this section and there was nothing but videos.

I thought what the heck was that about. then it triggered.. What if?? Now that I remember its about around the time I started to read ATS which is weird in its self.

As I was leaving I thought store security? Shish, do I fit some kind of profile, what gives? Then I thought he was just some guy but who was he and why did he take my picture? Then I thought to myself I should have confronted him and asked him “what’s up?” But these are all after thoughts.

Maybe we are all being watched or we are letting the paranoia set.???
....

Very interesting stories and ideas. Great response here.

I hope that if this happens to any of us in the future we will be more prepared to know what to do and how to handle it.

Kind of reminds me of the J.T. story when he claimed that people would be taken away in the middle of the night and with no fanfare from the neighbors or explanations forthcoming.

I have to say that the posts about this being a tax audit photo or possible real estate sales in the area photo, ring most true. But the best one was about it being a nostalgic picture of a happier time in the mans life, his past.

Was this some spontaneous action?

If the event happens again set up the man with a fake scenario, how ?through his routine.

Find out who he is working with, or who he is through some telemarketing scheme.

If the guy follows you around in your car make sure you go around in circles three times around the block to make sure.....
Next, when you are at work make sure you take different routes home three days a week.

Rememeber he is in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. Homecourt advantage.

Maybe your just a random possibility for Identity theft, who knows he may be taking pictures of your house and car, got a couple of credit card pre-aprovals from your mailbox and is trying to steal your identity. You even said ' typical looking older guy" Perfect for "blending in" so to speak. Just a thought. He may be using those photos as some sort of "proof" to back up his claims of assets he has(maybe trying to get a loan) I would be checking my credit soon.

I agree with Blaine. I think someone wants to buy the property, tear down the house & build. It happens in my neck of the woods a lot.

More random & paranoid thoughts: Is your house in a commercial or residential zone? Maybe one of your neighbors doesn't like you working out of the house.

Still more paranoid: Maybe you have a client planning on turning competitor and wants to get the most info they can about you.

Since a lot of the theories here involve real estate of some kind, how about going searching for the guy? Visit every real estate agent around you, do a google maps search and go steadily further afield. Real estate places usually have photographs of their agents on a board, and they also have to have agent's licenses on display (at least they did in Michigan where I was temporarily certified as one). Keep an eye out for his vehicle in nearby parking lots, make up a bull# story about looking for a house, and describe one that's almost exactly like yours (but not quite). With a little luck, if this dude was involved in real estate at all, any agent should be able to pull up the picture of your house if it's listed anywhere, and you might find the guy and have figured out what happened.

I think that's the most likely scenario that you can easily research. After that, I'm guessing you'd have to try government offices and such. It might seem like a lot of effort to go to, but if you're as unsettled by this as you appear to be, it's probably worth it. Not to mention, if the owner of your house *is* selling it, you'll probably want a heads up.

ok. check this:

"I drive home like a said I was and am followed turn by turn by a black Grand Prix GXP for at least 30 miles. (this is an unusually nice car for the region I was driving in. The driver has very common features and pitch black sunglasses. It followed me all the way to my subdivision then turned into a daycare just diagonal from my subdivision. Naturally I pass my house and make another turn I wait a bit and turn around. The view is partially blocked by trees but when I turn off I can distinctly make out a Grand Prix GXP still sitting there (is it a pick up your kid or a steak out?). I couldn't tell if the driver was in it or not because the side windows and rear window were tinted as black as the paint. I park my car and walk to the day care (longer walk than I thought) and he's gone." (I posted this a few days ago in another thread)

a GXP is really rare in the hick town I live in, In fact there's only one that I know of and it's a sedan (saloon car for you Brits) not a coupe.

Maybe he was casing your house to rob it later? Or steal your truck?

[edit on 19-7-2008 by Optix]

I would say watch your finances because it sounds to me like he could be trying to gather information about you to possibly steal your identity. He would want license plate numbers, addresses, he might try and steal mail or go through your trash. I would keep an eye on your finances and be careful not to throw anything away that can be used to gain info about you.

Other then that just keep watch. For all you know you were a potential target and scared him off by being home and spotting him. He'll probably move on to someone that will cause less trouble.

Of course anything is possible...but as a former investigator I tend to think of a few options...property tax assessor, real estate appraiser or P.I. for an insurance company.